


Literally just English work I need to bring to and from school because I don't feel safe logging in to my email with the school computers

by amazinglyhorribleegg



Category: The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-02-03 08:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12744990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amazinglyhorribleegg/pseuds/amazinglyhorribleegg
Summary: Wow





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

 

"Henry's coming over today," I mention to Marcia as I walk into the living room. Marcia is sitting on the couch, watching a television show about cooking. I think about watching with her, but the show looks boring and I still need to clean my room before Henry comes.

"Henry? Is he that chubby kid that was in the hospital for a while?" Marcia asked, her eyes moving from the show to me. She was mindlessly watching, probably more interested in her phone.

"Yeah. He's not that fat, though," I roll my eyes and start to walk to the stairs that lead to my room.

"I never said he was fat, I said he was chubby!" Marcia exclaims.

I start my walk up the nineteen stairs (Yes, I counted them all). "Whatever. He'll be here at five thirty. I'm going out with him at seven," I don't hear an immediate response so I assume she hears me. I walk into my room and look at how messy it is. It's funny how you never really notice how messy your room is until a friend is coming over. My suitcase is emptied and thrown onto my bed beside my school books, and on the bedside table there's cookie crumbs and a half empty 7up bottle. My shirt is thrown over my TV and mismatching socks cover the wood ground. I sigh and quickly start cleaning the mess, picking up the socks first.

Today's the fourth of July, landed smack-dab in the middle of the week. Well, it landed on a Tuesday, but close enough. I really had no plans for today except for do my homework and watch wrestling, but then Henry invited me to go see the fireworks downtown. It will be him, his mom, his dad, a guy named Mr. Atapattu and me. I'm pretty excited to go. Marcia never really celebrates anything like a real family. I can tell she tries, though. With our little money and small family I normally only get a few presents for Christmas and the cheapest costume for Halloween. Fourth of July isn't much different. I was never able to go out by myself before and Marcia has work normally. I've only seen fireworks twice in my life. Once when I was a little kid with my family and two years ago back when I was in soccer. We had a late game and as I was being driven home the fireworks started. I have tried many times to see the fireworks from my house but the only window that faces the right way is covered by trees.

I quickly finish cleaning my room and check the time. 3:40. I have enough time to have a shower and work on my homework.

Two hours come and go and I hear the doorbell ring. That's Henry. He's always ten minutes late. I try to get downstairs as fast as possible to save Henry from talking to Marcia, but it's too late. She's talking to him, and when Marcia starts talking, she never stops. Henry notices me and gives me a "help me" look. He never really liked talking to people.

"Nana, stop boring Henry to death," I sigh, hoping that Marcia hasn't gotten in a conversation yet.

"I was just telling Henry about how you cleaned your room for him!" Marcia said defensively.

"It's what everyone does before a guest comes over," I grumble. I take Henry's arm and lead him up the staircase. "Come on, let's play video games." Henry's eyes light up at the word 'video games'.

"What do you have?" He asks, almost tripping over the step.

"GTA, Call of Duty, Big Little Planet, Rock Band -"

"Can we play GTA?" Henry asks, his voice hopeful. I nod and open the door to my room. It still isn't the cleanest place on earth. I forgot a sock beside my bed and my suitcase is now open on the ground, but it's better than before. I turn on my PlayStation and put in the game disk for Grand Theft Auto V. We take a seat on my bed and I hand him the controller.

"Y'know, I haven't been able to play any games like this since mom moved in," Henry comments. Now it makes sense why he was so excited to play. Video game withdrawals - it's a thing.

"Really? Is she overprotective?" I watch as Henry steals a car and drives off, running a red light and crashing into a few mail boxes. He's remembering the controls of the game.

"No. It's... because of 'It'," Henry admits. I nod my head. He told me that he called the shooting 'It', and he asked me to call it that too. I don't mind. It's kind of harsh saying 'That time your brother killed another kid, yeah.'. "I can't even mention anything related to guns or like, the whole room goes silent and she walks off to her room." Henry dies in his video game and passes the controller to me.

"That sucks, man. Marcia doesn't really care. I'm pretty lucky." We sit in silence for a few minutes, only the sounds coming from the video game filling the room.

"So," I start, breaking the silence. I'm playing the game better than Henry is, which makes sense as it's my game. I finally die from getting shot and hand the controller to Henry again. "What are we doing tonight?"

Henry seems to take a second to process what I just said. "Oh, the fireworks?" I nod, unsure if he even sees me. His eyes are glued to the TV screen. "We're going downtown to the park. The fireworks start at seven forty-five I think. Mr. Atapattu is bringing snacks, probably some of his Barfi,"

"Barf?"

Henry rolls his eyes. "Barf _-ee_. It's some weird Indian food. It's good," I hum in approval, reaching down to push my suitcase under the bed absentmindedly.

Seven o'clock comes too soon. We've glitched out GTA, had arguments over if The Great Dane should've won yesterday's match, ate popcorn and got halfway through Little Big Planet. Finally, Henry's dad calls him to tell him that he was coming in fifteen minutes. It's just starting to become sunset. I'm getting excited.

 

 

The car ride is fun. Henry's family is really nice once you get to know them. We're only five minutes away from the park and the whole groups in a discussion about wrestling. I never knew Henry's mom liked wrestling this much!

"Nobody get's that big of muscles in just a month. The Great Dane is totally using steroids," I say knowing everyone will disagree. I barely finished saying the sentence when Henry and his father both yelled 'NO'.

"Great Dane doesn't use steroids, are you crazy?" His father asks. I laugh to myself.

"If you think Great Dane uses steroids, then what about Vlad?" Henry asks.

"He does it all naturally," I say. We argue a bit more until the car comes to a stop. We all pile out of the van and take things from the trunk. Henry's father takes two folding chairs, Henry's mother takes a blanket, Mr. Atapattu brings his cooler with Barfi in it (Henry and I tried a piece or two - it _is_ very good) and Henry takes a second blanket. I feel a bit awkward by not holding anything, but I follow the Larsen family down to an open spot in the field.

"The fireworks will be there," Henry's father points into the sky above a play structure. There was a perfect clearing. We set up all the blankets there and I take my third piece of Barfi. It's Henry's fourth piece so I don't feel bad.

"There's still ten minutes until the fireworks start, do you kids want to go to the park?" Henry's mother asks. We agree and walk off to the park. It's not like we're going to play in it. We will probably sit on the swings. In fact, that's the place we're walking to subconsciously.

"How many times have you seen fireworks in your life?" I ask, looking at the children playing in the park. Most of the swings are empty, as the kids are more interested in climbing up the slide.

"Wow, I don't know. We used to see them every year," Henry answers. We sit down on two swings where his mother can still see us and we start swinging.

"I've only seen them maybe twice," I mention, feeling the cold metal chains of the swing against the palm of my hand. Henry looks at me, clearly shocked. "Once when I was, like, three and again back when I used to play soccer. Maria has work, so we normally don't go out,"

"Oh yeah, I guess Maria isn't your mom," we both laugh. "She kind of looks like she could be,"

"Except for the fact that she looks like she's in her late twenty's," I say.  We start swinging higher on the swings, the cold air hurting my face a bit. "I haven't seen my parents in four years or so." The conversation dies down and we stop kicking our legs to swing, letting it naturally swing less and less.

"Do you ever miss your family?" Henry asks suddenly.

"Every day. I'm afraid that I'll forget their faces," I admit. That's the thing between me and Henry, we both feel comfortable talking to each other, maybe even more than our parents. We can both admit things like this and we won't judge each other.

"Me too. I miss Jesse," Henry kicks the dirt in a feeble attempt to push himself higher on the swings. "What happens if I forget all the good memories with him?" His voice was low and filled with genuine worry.

"That's why I keep a scrapbook of my parents," we make eye contact and quickly break it. "I found pictures and wrote a bit about each of them. Sometimes I cover the writing with my hand and see if I can remember it perfectly,"

Henry smiles a bit. "We have a lot of pictures of the family. Maybe dad will let me do that." Our conversation dies down from there and we see kids go back to their families to watch the fireworks. It should be starting any minute. Henry mumbles something I don't quite hear.

"What did you say?"

"What if I become like Jesse?" He repeats. I open my mouth and pause. I don't really know what to say about that. I hear stories about kids turning like their parents all the time. Then, I remember a useless fact I learned in science.

"You know how kids get fifty percent of their DNA from their mom and fifty percent from their dad?" I ask. Henry nods. "Siblings might look totally different from each other because they get different halves of their parents DNA though. That's like you and Jesse. You don't have any of Jesse's bad DNA in you, you just share the good DNA," I realize after I say it that what I just said made no sense, but I didn't care at that point. It made sense in my head, and it must of made sense for Henry as well, because he believed it, but not fully.

"Yeah, I guess..." He didn't seem fully convinced.

"Even if you were in that situation, you would realize it and stop it. You have a support system with Cecil, Mr. Atapattu, me and everyone else. You wont end up like Jesse." Henry thought about what I said for a moment and nodded.

"That's true - woah," A light flashed in the sky and I looked up to see a red firework explode into a million shining bits. I gasp and stare at the beautiful explosions, one firework coming up after another. It was amazing. It takes me a while before I can look away to see that Henry is smiling as largely as I was. He looked over at me and chuckled.

"Do they look like what you remember?" Henry asks. I nod in approval and look back at them just in time to see a star shaped one explode.

While looking at the fireworks and sitting beside Henry I realized something. Me and Henry have been through things. Mostly Henry, but we survived. One month ago at the anniversary of 'It', Henry barely spoke to me. He sat at the back of class and didn't answer any questions, but now here he is, laughing and smiling with me. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a bit emotional watching the fireworks with Henry, because he's my family now; even though we only met a handful of months ago.

I wonder if he feels the same about me.

 

 

666 more work yay 666

 

 

The book _Diary Of A Wimpy Kid_ and _The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen_ are similar in layout and idea, but there are many differences as well, and that is what I'll be talking about today. The two books are works of fiction based around a young boys journal entry's. _Diary Of A Wimpy Kid_ is written by Jeff Kinney, an American cartoonist and the maker of the children's website _Poptropica._ The book is about a kid named Greg Heffley, a kid trying to be popular in his new middle school. His mother hands him a journal to write down his thoughts about going  into a new school. There are twelve books made at the moment. _The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen_ Is written by Susin Nielsen, a Canadian author that writes for children and young adults. The book she wrote has a darker theme than most of her other stories, as the book is based around a school shooting and how the family learns to recover from it. The main character is Henry, a humourus and sarcastic pre teen whos councillor told him to write a journal. These two books look similar enough, but as we read we can see some noticeable differences.

First, I will talk about the similarities. The most obvious similarity is that these books are both epistolary novels; both of these novels are written like a journal. Another similarity is that the main character for both novels are male and twelve to thirteen years old. They both have a male best friend, who they both see as a little weird an unpopular. Greg has Rowley and Henry has Farley. We see the main characters are both reluctant to start a journal, as Greg says "Don't expect me to be all dear diary this and dear diary that." and Henry says "When I got home, I threw the notebook in the garbage." Both characters have an older brother, and has/had a good, generic family. The stories mostly take place in school or at home, the two places a teenager probably goes to the most. They both deal with bullies on a regular basis and are really just looking to fit in and be normal.

We have to look a bit deeper to find differences between the two novels. The easiest to see is how the plot in _The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen_ is based around bullying and Henry's brother shooting the school, whole _Diary of a Wimpy Kid_ focuses around Greg's life in middle school. _Diary of a Wimpy Kid_ is for a younger audience and was a fan favourite in my elementary school, while _The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen_ is for a slightly older audience, as it deals with much heavier subjects. You also notice how _The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen_ is a smaller, lesser known book. There is only one book and no movie remake. We see how Greg's family is happier and Greg deals with normal middle school problems, while Henry's family is broken apart and he deals with something large and scarring. While both characters want to be normal, I feel like Henry wants to blend in more than Greg. Greg wants to be popular and dreams about being famous, while Henry wants to be a kid that nobody looks at twice.

All together, I believe that these books are more similar than different, for the fact that all the similarities are large and noticeable, while there are many, smaller differences that don't change much. I hope Mr. Price doesn't read this because I don't feel like making the ending paragraph five sentences long when I'm just gonna re write it anyway. There are also more spelling mistakes than a kindergarteners writing. *MIC DROP*

 

 

 

-=-=-=-

okay goodish copy now I guess.

-=-=-=-

 

The book _Diary Of a Wimpy Kid_ and _The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen a_ re similar in layout and idea, but once you look closer you can see many differences. Today I'll talk about the similarities and differences between the two. The two books are works of fiction about a pre teens journal entry's. _Diary of a Wimpy Kid_ is written by Jeff Kinney, an American cartoonist and the maker of the children's website _Poptropica._ His book is about Greg Heffley, a boy entering middle school with his good friend Rowley. He has twelve books made at the moment. _The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen_ is written by Susin Nielsen, a Canadian author who writes for children and young adults. Her book is about Henry, a thirteen year old boy struggling with a family tragedy he names 'It'. Both books are epistolary novels based written by the main character. The two books seem similar enough, but you can see some differences.

First off, I'll talk about the similarities. Both books seem to have the same basic outline. A boy who is told to write a journal about his thoughts as he transitions school; he is reluctant about doing so ("Don't expect me to be all Dear diary this and Dear diary that..." ~ _Diary of a Wimpy Kid_ and "When I got home, I threw the notebook in the garbage...") but ends up liking the idea and writes a second book, as shown in the many sequels of _Wimpy Kid_ and the last line of _Reluctant Journal_ "I guess I'll need to ask Cecil for a new notebook." Both characters have the same family. A loving mother that gives their sons nicknames, a father who brings in the money, an older brother who teases them and a weird and unpopular best friend that they seem to hate-love. There are differences in the family, but I will get into that in the next paragraph. Both books are mostly set in a school or home environment and deals with bullying in some way. Greg and Rowley are forced by older kids to touch and eat moldy cheese, giving them a 'cheese touch' and repelling every kid in the school. Henry and Farely are repeatedly picked on and eventually physically hurt. I believe that both Greg and Henry just want to fit in and be 'normal'.

On the outside, these books look strangely similar, but with all the similarities there are also many differences that make these two books unique. Greg Heffley is dealing with normal kid problems, like being popular in school and dealing with annoying family members. Henry Larsen is slightly different because normal kid problems are only a fraction of Henry's life. He is deeply traumatized from his brother shooting the school and committing suicide. In result, _Reluctant Journal_ is a much darker story and probably won't be found in my elementary school library, unlike the fan favourite _Wimpy Kid._ Henry's story is much deeper and serious. Susin Nielsen even said herself that the book is quite different from the others she wrote for the fact that it deals with a dark topic. I mentioned in the similarities paragraph how both kids have a family, but that's a little different for Henry. Ever since 'It', his family's been separated. His mother was in a mental hospital, his father is depressed and his older brother is, well, dead. _Reluctant Journal_ is more about the aftermath of bullying and surviving a family loss, and _Wimpy Kid_ is more about life as a middle schooler.

In conclusion, I believe that both books are more different than similar. A person might think that they are similar by reading the synopsis, but after reading through both books and doing journal entry's on one of the books you realize that these books are very different. THI ISN"T 700 WORDS YET BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE FOR THE END AND I DON'T HAVE MY BINDER WITH ME SO I'M NOT SURE WHAT TO ADD I'LL EDIT THIS AT SCHOOL TOMORROW I GUESS. HI WHOEVER'S EDITING THIS. HOW'S YOUR DAY? I HOPE YOU'RE DOING GOOD. UNLESS YOU'RE A MURDERER. ACTUALLY I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOD DAY BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT MURDER ME. AHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHA I NEED SLEEP.


	2. POEM ASSIGNMENT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ugh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_1\. Falling_

_2\. Haiku_

_3\. My Mind_

_4._

_5\. Diamanté_

_6._

_7._

_8._

_9._

_10._

_-_

_1\. I'm a nobody, who are you?_

_2\. We Real Cool 1/2_

_3._

_4\. Riches_

_5._

_-_

_6 Word Thingy_

**(3) My Mind**

My mind is a storybook;

Always coming up with ideas

I will tell stories for hours

Just please don't close the book

 

My mind is like a dragonfly;

Over here, now over there

I will fly everywhere with enthusiasm

Don't get too close - I sting!

 

My mind is like a dog;

Jumping on everyone I meet

I will chase my tail endlessly

Unaware of what's going on outside

 

My mind is like a haunted house

What goes on inside the dark hallways?

I will slam the door behind you

Get lost inside the dark maze

 

 

**(1) Falling**

The bright lights shine far below

She looks down, no one will know

Holding on tight, ready to let go

 

The howling wind calls

She takes a breath and stalls

With little elegance, she falls

 

 

  **(2) Haiku**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Question**

I sigh a long breath

The question is haunting

I'm forced to answer it

 

  **Music**

The melody sings

I close my eyes and smile

Music has saved me 

 

**Santa**

The Christmas tree sparkles

A young child is up very late

To finally see Santa

 

**Who?**

The question lingers

Who am I? What am I?

I refuse to answer

 

**Wrong**

They get it wrong

Everyday they say it wrong

If only they knew...

 

**Don't tell**

Shh, don't tell them

Don't let them in on it

Don't even tell yourself

 

**Sleep**

I wake up again

Please don't make me leave the bed

I'm already tired

 

**Hole**

There's something missing

A piece of me has left

I shall carry on

 

**Balancing act**

Tip-toeing across

Wavering with each step

Don't let go, don't fall off.

 

**Fall**

I know I will fall

But please, don't say goodbye

I'm not dead yet

 

**Red Lies**

Why do I tell lies?

It rains red, I lie again

nightly rains and daily lies

 

**Red Lies**

At night it rains red

At morning there's regret

At day the truth hides

 

**Red Lies**

Red arms, red wrists

I paint my body in crimson

Red thighs, red lies

 

**Missing**

There's something missing

It makes my chest ache with pain

I don't know what happened

 

((14))

 

 

 

 

**Diamanté**

 

Depression

dark, black

tiring, lurking, thinking,

sadness, rain, hope, health

trying, breathing, smiling,

 bright, life,

 healing

 

-

 

**(1) Somebody or Nobody?**

To be a somebody or to be a nobody, that is the question. When is it best to be a somebody? Are you better off being a nobody your whole life? Should you live life to the fullest or enjoy the peace you have inside your home? The answer for this will differ from person to person, and today I'll be giving my own opinion on the matter. So far, since I entered High School I've chosen the 'nobody' lifestyle. I'm not a 'famous' kid, nor do I have many followers on social media. As a freshman I believe it's important to give off a good first impression and get your work done, otherwise it will lead you to a bad four years ahead and you will become the kids from the 'We Real Cool' poem. It sounds really cheesy - "Be a good student and get good grades", but it's true. As for adulthood, I'm a bit torn between the two. I have plans to be an author, and for that I will need to be a somebody. Maybe not a big somebody, but a somebody. Living your life as a hermit will get a bit boring, so I would recommend trying new things. Be a somebody, but not such a big somebody that you have no privacy. It will be hard, but life's already hard.

As for the poem, I feel like it's hard to relate to. I enjoy the first stanza because I can relate to it. I am a nobody, yet I still have friends that are nobody as well. you don't need to be a somebody to be happy, you just need to be willing to let others in. It's the second stanza that I don't connect to. It's saying that being a somebody leaves you with no privacy, and you will end up looking like a frog loudly ribbiting all your ideas to your crowd, which you'll think of as a dirty bog. This isn't always true. Some people enjoy the idea of being popular, and welcome their fans. Just because you are a somebody doesn't mean that you need to think of your fanbase as some dirty bog that listens to everything you do. You can be unique, and make the world a better place - something a simple frog will have a hard time doing.

 

 

**(2) We Real Cool**

We Real Cool is a poem about teenagers dropping out of school and being 'cool'. The poet explains these characters to be generic bad kids that stay up late and drink and waste their life away. The first line "We Real Cool" and the fifth line "We siinh sin" shows that the characters feel proud of themselves for doing all this, and "Sings' abut their sins. "We thin gin" hints at the idea that the teens here drink gin mixed with water, the cheapest way to drink. All together the characters seem rude, dirty and full of themselves. While thi explains a tiny portion of teens, it puts on a label for the majority. Look at all the kids in slss - none of them seem to skip school and get in fights. If adults read this they'll think that all teens act like this, when truly, all kids think about now in days are selfies and likes on Instagram. This is a humorus look on teenagers, but I wouldn't let anybdy take it too sriosufefuh;atlii.

 

**Riches**

/Riches/ is a poem about the author's, well, riches. But it's not riches like money. He's talking about what he finds to be as rich as gold, silver and diamond. I decided to write a poem like his as well so I'll have an easier idea on what I think are gold, silver and diamond.  
  
In the first stanza I wrote about three different things I found gold, those being sunsets, field trips and Christmas morning. They are what I believe brings joy to the world. This is different from Harold, as he talked about

 

 -

**6 Word Thingy**

Be quiet. Speak through your writing

Wake up, daydream sleep and repeat

We all live for meaningless words

Good at everything except for poetry

 Speaking is so confusing, just write


	3. BOOK CAFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

  1. B) Protagonist: Craig Gilner  
1) Physical Appearance  
   a) 15 yr old, high school   
   b) Dark hair and eyes   
   c)Big eyebrows   
   d) ”I look so normal. I look like I’ve always looked, like I did before the fall of last year” 



 2) Motives and Conflict   
   a) Getting into a good high school   
   b) Get ”The Shift”   
   c) Mental health   
    ~Depression, suicidal thoughts

3) Character traits   
   a) Honest   
   b) quiet   
    ~”It’s so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself”   
   c)Straight forward

4) Relations   
   a) Aaron   
    ~Best friend   
   b) Nia   
    ~Aarons girlfriend, Craig’s crush   
    ~Love interest   
   c) Mom and Dad   
    ~Supportive family   
   d) Dr.Minerva   
    ~ Therapist   
   e) Noelle   
    ~ Love interest

5) Change throughout novel   
   a) Experiences the ”Shift:   
    ~”Jeez, why did I want to kill myself? It’s a huge thing, this Shift, just as big as I imagined it

  1. C) Other Characters  
1) Aaron  
   a) Best friend   
   b) Round and Dynamic   
     ~Learns from mistakes, realizes what he does wrong   
2) soldier   
   a) way of dealing   
   b) flat, static   
     ~ Never changes personality or learns anything 



  3) Noelle

  1. a) Round, static
  2. b) Made mistakes, has a background. Never changes or learns during novel. 



  1. D) Literary circle



 1) Passage Master

  1. a) "Yes, I'm okay. I'm okay because I have a plan and a solution: I'm going to kill myself



     ~ Plot climax

     ~ All-time low for Craig

     ~ Quick personality change

      + Wanting to get better to realizing there's no getting better

2) Word Wizard

  1. a) Shift



     ~Shift represents getting better from mental illness

     ~ Craig's goal throughout novel

     ~ "The shift has to be coming. If you keep living like this you'll die

3) Discussion Director

  1. a) Is the Shift real?



     ~ "Life is not cured, it's managed

     ~ Therapist doesn't think a sudden shift can happen

     ~ Craig experiences the shift

     ~ Is it a real shift?

4) Connector

  1. a) Suicidal thoughts



     ~ I wanted to die at some point, too!

     ~ "Fake Shift" vs "No Mans Zone/trapeze"

     ~ "When I woke up, I had this awful realization that I was awake"

     ~Craig's anchors vs mine (Riding bike vs daydreaming)

5) Artist (CUE ART HERE)

  1. E) Theme



_It's Kind_ _Of_ _A Funny Story_ is about getting past depression and healing. Craig is a relatable, normal teen boy with a mental illness that takes over his life slowly, as we figure out during the book. We read about him getting worse and worse until he reaches rock bottom - nearly killing himself. From then on we see him heal, meet new friends and realize that life is worth living. Through all the tough things that life throws at Craig, we see him get past them and survive. I learned from this book that it's okay to not be okay, and that just because you might have a good life doesn't mean you can't be depressed, or have any mental illness at all. This story reaches out to many people who have dealt with suicidal thoughts or depression and lets them know that they are not alone.

  1. F) Evaluation



_It's Kind_ _Of_ _A Funny Story_ is a book that I believe all teens should read. Craig Gilner is an honest, relatable character that goes through normal teenager problems, like going into a new high school. The characters are flawed and make mistakes, which makes them even more relatable. Every teenager should read this because at this time of your life you will often feel alone, and it might be hard to talk to people. Not only does Craig also understand, but this book lets everyone know that you will survive.  Ned Vizzini, the author, explains depression very well, while also keeping the story humorous and light-hearted. The movie's genre is a Comedy, Drama, romance mix, but I feel like the book fits mental health fiction the most. The book focuses mainly on mental health, so it's a very strong example of this genre. I would rate this book with an A+ for it's amazing mixture of humour and serious topics.


	4. Happines Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happiness project. Seven rules to happiness.

**Stay Organized (Pencils in order)**

    The first rule I chose was to stay organized. At first it sound broad, like it can fit anybody, but I feel like it's very important to me personally. You may not believe it, but I love being organized. From something as big as keeping your house clean to something as small as making your bed in the morning. It shows how you can keep everything under control, and it makes you look more mature and collected. Nobody, not even my own parents, would believe me if I told them that I enjoy being organized. You wouldn't believe it either if you saw my life. At this very moment I'm sitting on an unmade bed with more garbage under it than I would like to admit, my clothes are on my floor and my books are placed half-hazardly on my table. I hate it. I can tell it makes me unhappy, and that it gives me this impression that I can't keep anything under control. I feel like I'm not even in control of my life, and there's nobody to blame except myself. I'm too unmotivated to do anything, even my hobbies, but I have a feeling that it will all change if I get my life organized. Maybe once I finish this paragraph I'll clean my room... but first I need to check my email, go on social media, talk to my mom, study... what? Procrastination? I would never!

 

**Write my feelings (Typewriter font T)**

    The second rule I chose was a spin-off from the 'talk to somebody about your feelings'. I decided to change that for a few reasons. One, I am terrible at social interaction; two, I wouldn't want to bug others and three, did I mention how I suck at social interaction? I changed this to 'write my feelings' because I am much better at writing than talking. I already rely on writing heavily to cope with emotions, but lately I've gotten myself stuck in the loop of thinking up stories and never writing them. I used to write more than I daydream when I first started, but over the years it's become the opposite. I can put all my burdens on characters in stories so I feel like I'm less alone. Next thing you know I'll be talking to myself! Wait, I already do that. I'm planning to spend an amount of time writing every night. I say an amount because once I start writing it's hard to stop. It just takes that extra push to start. This will help me get all my thoughts organized, and see how the characters in my story would react with having them.

 

**Do hobbies that I have abandoned (Piano keys)**

Over time I have lost interest in doing... a lot of things. One of which are my hobbies. I enjoy doing things such as drawing, watching TV with my family, writing, teaching myself how to play songs on the piano and reading. Some of those started up to four years ago, like writing and drawing, and some I just started in September, like playing the piano. They made me happy. Now, I kind of just stare at the roof and question my existence. I want to draw, I want to read, I want to do all those things, I just don't have the motivation. It's almost creepy how little I do. I feel like I have so little time, yet I do nothing with it. Honestly, I haven't thought about it until I just wrote that sentence. Okay, maybe I play basketball when it's sunny, I go on YouTube a lot, but somehow I do nothing? I don't even sleep. I feel like if I start doing things I'll be more active and my mind will be more awake and I will be generally happier and in a better mood.


	5. fuckin socials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

 

1.

When learning about the fall of Rome, one very important part is knowing who attacked Rome. There were many barbarian tribes that partook in this, such as the Angles, Franks, Visigoths, Jutes, Vandals, Nomads, Celts, Britons, Picts, Vikings and many more. The Goths were the least known and longest lasting tribe, who attacked Rome on and off since 238.

-=-

You always here the saying "Rome wasn't built in a day," but did you know it didn't fall in a day, either? It took years of multiple barbarian groups attacking Rome for it to finally fall to pieces. There were many Europian tribes, such as  the Angles, Franks, Visigoths, Jutes, Vandals, Nomads, Celts, Britons, Picts, Vikings and more. But one stands out more than the others - the Goths. The Goths were the least known tribe yet played an important role in taking down Rome. The reason they had an advantage against the Roman Empire was because their king, Alaric, had been taught in the Roman military and learned about their strengths a weaknesses. The Goths had been in the Roman empire, yet the Romans never gave them territory to settle on or grow. This caused Alaric to become angry and wanting revenge. As for the other tribes, they attacked Rome once they realized that Rome may not be as invincible as it seemed. These wars were about territory and gaining control over kingdoms.

 

But why did Rome seem so vulnerable? What caused such a large group to die off? There are many reasons to this happening, and one of which is a power vaccum. The government of Rome was unsteady, impacting the functions of the city. Thi left the place unprepared for attacks from outsider groups, ones that would normally never attack otherwise. It wasn't until 476 A.D. when Western Rome finally fell, and the barbarian tribes took over.

 

 

-goths were in rome but rome didn't give them territory to settle in

\- Why? Goths didn't get land, rome was in a power vaccum

 

-=-=-good copy maybe below-=-=-

 

 

   You always hear the saying "Rome wasn't built in a day," but did you know it didn't fall in a day, either? It took years of multiple barbarian groups attacking Rome for it to finally fall apart. There were many tribes, such as the Angles, Huns, Franks, Goths, Jutes, Vandals, Nomads, Celts, Britons, Picts, Vikings and more. With all these groups wanting their own territory, it makes sense that Rome would eventually die, but why did it take that long? Rome was considered invincible for the longest time, what caused that to change? I researched this for a while and came up with answers. Long story short, it's because of the split between Empire, but I can't just leave my answer at that if I want a grade higher than a B, so let's go into more detail. Ancient Rome was a huge city, even for today's standards, so Emperor Diocletian decided to split Rome into two - the Eastern and the Western Empires. This destined Rome to failure from the beginning. With the split there came many problems with the government, military and more. And once the Emperor died it got even worse.

 

   Well, that's interesting. How did the Barbarians figure all this out, though? They probably either worked with the Romans or stayed far away from them in fear, so who was the first to attack? It was actually the migration of the Huns which caused a domino effect. They drove many Germanic tribes to the borders of Rome. Rome allowed the Goths into their city but were very cruel to them. This was a big mistake on Rome's part, as they created an enemy with the ones they let in and trusted in their military lines. It was the Goth's leader, Alaric, who fought back with all the knowledge he knew about their enemies strengths and weaknesses. They fought for years until Western Rome became weak enough for other Barbarian tribes to attack and take over the land, such as the Saxons and Vandals.

 

   All together, the fall of Rome was somewhat caused by Rome due to their poor choices and a power vacuum in their government. This was a war for territory and equal rights between the Barbarian tribes and the Roman Empire.


	6. Why did our teacher give us an oral exammmmmmm???????????

1\. Perspective  
I believe the church was more important than the government because religion is a big part of people's lives back then, while the government was just  
like rules they had to follow

2\. Signifigance  
I believe the age of exploration was more sinmifigant because people started to learn more about the places surrounding them and everything seemed  
to start to slide in place to how life is today (Such as the fudeal system changing, for example, to give equal rights,)

3\. Evidence  
We have a lot of evidence for them like old journals or writing which show how people spoke, wrote, acted and thought on different occasions.

4\. Ethical Judgement  
People often made first judgements on the way people looked or acted before actually looking into their community and understanding them. We see  
this ins picohontus, both sides don't understand each other and call each other savages and it takes until they finally put aside their differences before  
they realize that they're both human and have their own way ofliving, wants and needs.

5\. Continuety and change  
They started to learn new ways of transport and trading, and started to share different food, ideas or culture. They are constantly lookingfor new  
trade routes and making new maps, etc

6\. Cause and consiquence  
The black death spread very quickly, killing many people. One big consiquence of this is the lack of workers. This made the workers want more  
rights to work, and caused the downfall of the feudal sytem. There's also the fact that their God never saved them from the black death even though  
they prayed n such. This caused to less people believeing in the church.


	8. I can't spell

WEATHER

The weather varies from place to place in the Intermountain Region. In the south the winters are shorter, warmer and there is less precipitation. In the north the winters are wet. One thing that the entire place has in common is that the summers are hot. This is perfect for anyone who enjoys the summer fun, and can handle the heat!

 

 

PLACES TO VISIT

Although this region may be thinly populated, there are many popular cities and states that you can visit!

Why not go to Nevada and take a trip to Las Vegas? All the beautiful lights will amaze you, and it’s the perfect place to spend with your friends.

Despite it’s intimidating name, Death Valley is also a great place to visit! From visiting a real ghost town to having your photo taken at the lowest point in North America, you will have a blast! Just remember your sunscreen!

Have you ever been to Utah? Well that’s another state in the Intermountain region! Sure, it’s a bit sandy, but Salt Lake City sure is a sight to see! GO visit the Natural History Museum of Utah, or go to the Salt Lake Temple.

 

 

MAJOR CITIES

Utah

Nevada

West Wyoming

South Idaho

A bit of california 

 

 

ANIMALS

Do you like birds? Good, because that’s what you’ll get. Birds, ducks, swans, you name it, the Intermountian region has it! But that’s not all! This place is also home to animals such as white-tailed deer, elk, moose, coyote’s and lynxes. Go and search up “Baby lynx pictures” on google and try to tell me that you wouldn’t want to live with them. Case closed.

 

 

TOPOGRAPHY

As the name entails, this region has mountains. But in the places without mountains, there is sand. A lot. Because of the sand, you will probably find only the plants that can survive in such a hot climate, or sparse grassland. But go a bit up the mountain and you will be surrounded by beautiful pine trees. Did you know that roughly 60% of the Intermountain Regions lands are woodland vegetation and forests?

There are many streams and rivers in the Intermountain region that never reach the sea. There are many wetlands in this region, as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Note: present tense. Idk.


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